Chapter 15
KAYLEIGH
I stare at my phone, debating whether I should text Elliot or surprise him.
When I first told him I was extending my stay in Evergreen Pass, he seemed disappointed.
But he didn’t once argue or try to change my mind.
And as the days passed, he continued to check in.
He wanted to know if I was happy. If I was having fun with my family.
He updated me on Misty’s condition. He never once made me feel guilty for not being back at the Bishop Ranch, despite my promise to return sooner.
This morning, the epiphany finally smacked me in the face.
Or well, Grandma Lola did.
I rub my cheek, the sting of her loving slap still a little tingly in places.
“This is not how a man who wants to control you acts,” she insisted. “This is a man who wants nothing more than for the woman he loves to be happy no matter the outcome. I’m only surprised he hasn’t come after you yet.”
“You’re not scandalized by the whole age gap thing?” I asked her as I picked apart a cherry muffin at the breakfast table. “Or by the fact that he’s my ex-boyfriend’s dad?” Alida has had way too much fun rubbing that one in my face. It’s all been in good fun, especially since it’s true. But still.
“Pssht! I’ve done things that would make a whore blush. If you love him, and he loves you, what else matters?”
Her words echo as I sit in the airport terminal, my finger hovering over the call button.
A text doesn’t seem appropriate after the space this man has patiently given me. He deserves more than that.
“Kayleigh?”
My head snaps up at the sound of a very familiar voice. A voice I’ve ached to hear for almost a week.
“Elliot?”
I squish my eyes shut and open them again, wondering if there was a little something extra in that particular batch of cherry muffins. I wouldn’t put it passed Grandma Lola. But when Elliot makes a beeline for me, I can’t deny what I’m seeing.
“You…came?”
“I came. Is that…not alright?” He takes the empty seat next to mine and reaches for my hand. “I understand if you’re not ready for your family to meet me—”
“Oh, they’re ready to meet you,” I say on a laugh.
“Do you still want this, Kayleigh?” For the first time since I met Elliot Bishop, I detect fear in his eyes. The only other time I’ve seen a trace of it was when he received the news of Misty acting unusual.
“You didn’t tell me you paid off my student loans.”
“Was I supposed to?”
“I was going to pay that with the auction money.”
“It seemed pointless when you could have avoided the whole auction had I just heard you out that first day. This was my way of making up for that. If I offended you in any way, I’m sorry. I was just trying to do the right thing by you.”
“It had nothing to do with you wanting to control me?” I ask, the last bit of fear lingering in that question.
“Control you?”
“You know, the whole owning me thing.”
He leans closer, lowering his voice, “You mean because I’ve come inside you?”
My entire body shivers at the many memories of him doing just that. If we weren’t stuck in a public airport, I’d beg him to do it again just to make sure the whole thing wasn’t one elaborate sex dream. “You said—”
“What I meant, Kayleigh, is that there’ll never be another for me.
I knew that the moment I met you all those months ago when you appeared in my hallway like a fucking fantasy.
I knew if I gave in, there would be no turning back.
Not for me. And am I a little possessive of you?
Yes the fuck I am. But it’s because I appreciate the rare gem that you are, and I’ll be damned if I let another man take you for granted.
I didn’t just claim you that night you came to my bedroom and rode me like a rodeo bull. ”
I blush at that very accurate description.
“You claimed me. Heart, body, and soul.”
Be still my beating heart. If I live to be a hundred, no one could shock me more with such a heartfelt confession. These are not words I ever expected to hear from the ruthless, grumpy Elliot Bishop. But they are words I’ll cherish always.
“I love you, Elliot. I’m sorry I stayed away. I just needed time—”
He brushes the hair back from my cheek, tucking it behind my ears. “I want you to be sure about us, Kayleigh. If you need more time—”
“I don’t.” I reach for his cheek. “I’m sure about us.”
“You are?”
“Sure enough to cancel my flight and take you to meet my wildly overbearing family. If you’re brave enough, anyway.”
“For you, I’ll be as brave as you need me to be, Kay. I love you so fucking much it hurts.”
He presses a kiss to my lips, and I melt. My bones turn to liquid as his tongue slides across mine. His kiss tastes like coffee, cinnamon, and a promise of forever. Fuck, I’m such a goner.
“I want to meet your family,” he says, breaking apart the nearly indecent for public consumption kiss.
“But?”
“But first, I was wondering if there might be somewhere we could stop along the way.” He leans his cheek against mine, his lips brushing the shell of my ear as he adds, “So I can come inside that delicious pussy of yours again. Would that be okay?”
“Fuck it,” I say on a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’m permanently on the naughty list anyway.”
“You and me both, Kayleigh.”